How to Appear Knowledgeable Even When You’re Not

It’s a common occurrence, someone approaches you and tries to start small talk about a subject you are unfamiliar with but you can’t afford to seem ignorant in front of this certain someone. Of course there is no substitute for knowledge, but using these tips you can appear confident and knowledgeable through the first conversation buying yourself just enough time to go home, panic, and research about the subject you just pretended to know before your next encounter.

Be confident but don’t speak loudly

The adage about speaking loudly to give the impression you know what you are talking about? False, however there are tips to stay confident even when you are scared out of your mind. Eye contact is important. If you try to avoid him/her in the beginning of the conversation you are giving off a negative air, make eye contact and just try to soothe your nerves. Do not over-nod or agree. If you keep nodding and replying “Yes” then you will appear much too passive. The speaker will think s/he is losing your attention and in an attempt to get you to speak will likely ask a direct and specific question, one that you are not prepared to answer.

Avoid direct questions gracefully

It’s inevitable that during the talk you will face a direct and specific question. Play this off gracefully when confronted with a tough question that you don’t know. Your answer, preferably, should be two parts. The first part denying that you know what s/he is asking should be kept short while the second part that you’ll do your very best to make sure you find out needs to be accented. E.g. “I’m not too sure but I’ll definitely check on that, it sounds interesting.” or “No, I’m not familiar with it but I think I read a headline about it a while back.” Try not to use the trite, “I don’t remember” because when you start it’s difficult to stop a cycle of “I don’t remember”, which will only serve to make you look clueless.

Mix in specifics in the conversation

If you do know a little about what you are talking about do not be vague about it. Work in some specific knowledge you have into the conversation but do not overstress the points. Focusing on specific points may make the other person believe your field of knowledge is narrow. In addition, overstressing limited specific points may result in redundancies, something you do not want. Also, stressing specifics may result in in-depth questions that you do not have the answer to.